


The Heretic

by pauliemeatballs



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25811170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pauliemeatballs/pseuds/pauliemeatballs
Summary: A rewrite of Act 3, and a majority of the lore behind it. The party meet the Timekeeper and learn that there is indeed a way to bring back their fallen friend. At the same time, they learn of Erdrea's inaccurate history, and how the true prophecy of the Luminary is greater than they could have imagined. Told from Serena's point of view.
Kudos: 7





	The Heretic

**Author's Note:**

> -Serena's hair: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/13NV11YbjeI/maxresdefault.jpg  
> -Ref for Jade: https://i.imgur.com/SgYLQyA.png  
> -Ref for Veronica: https://i.imgur.com/PgC8hVf.png  
> -Ref for the Luminary (Eyll): https://i.imgur.com/CGsISl7.png  
> -Serenica is not the Timekeeper  
> -Mordegon is not the Seer  
> -Eleven is deaf

Serena looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Though she had taken a holy vow to abstain from alcohol, her body sang with the pleasant exhaustion that often followed a night of merriment, as well as the physical toil from the battle against the Lord of Shadows; jumping and dodging every which way till she was certain there was no more ground to cover, and being thrown against the broken pillars of the beast’s throne room that had crumbled under the gravity of his own hellish transformation. She lifted the sleeve of her nightshirt to acknowledge the bruises. Being a cleric, her healing magic made wounds close up in half the time it took for others who had not harnessed their own. She poked one out of curiosity. The pain tinged, but with the dull heat of familiarity instead of shock. Serena found that she could not muster much feeling to warrant a proper reaction anyway. The celebration was a raucous pleasure, sure, but she had awoken with the dreaded weight of monotony sinking back onto her shoulders. The adventure was over. Mordegon was gone. Yggdrasil restored Herself to Her former glory. And yet none of it particularly moved her. She felt anger boil inside of her like tar, and went so far as to curse Yggdrasil in her mind. What happened to the innocents swallowed up by Mordegon’s darkness? Were they not allowed a second chance at life? Surely, the Mother Tree could perform this feat, no? As perennial plants rise again from the fallen petals of their previous existence? What about Veronica? _What about Veronica?_ she wondered.

Guilt wracked her immediately, and she ran from the bathroom to prostrate herself in prayer, whispering apologies to Yggdrasil into her clasped hands. Even then, she felt ashamed of herself. Not because of her blasphemy, but because she felt she had to succumb to Yggdrasil’s might once more. Veronica was never like this. She blasphemed as if she was trying to set a record. She questioned almost everything she read in the holy Arborian tomes like she was trying to purposefully set Father Benedictus off. She frequented bars and experimented recreationally with magical herbs and cussed to her heart’s content, and told the goofiest kinds of vulgar jokes that could make even the land’s most downtrodden barfly cry with laughter. Serena stopped praying. The warmth that Veronica’s free-spiritedness brought to her heart acted as a double edged sword, for it fanned the flames of her rage further. As a humble servant of the Mother Tree, a vessel of destiny woven from the very fibers of Her roots, Serena never outwardly expressed her negative emotions. Even when Eyll consoled her as she mourned Veronica, she clenched her fists hard enough to draw blood to keep herself from sobbing like she wanted to. She wanted so desperately to sob. To howl. To give in to her pain and blaspheme at the Mother Tree’s feet. She didn’t care about what would happen. The selfishness in her rationalized that her twenty-one years of unwavering servitude warranted at least one outcry at the unfairness she had to endure. Serena remembered her favorite bit of controversy from Veronica; a kind of food for thought that left the priests flabbergasted, while Veronica herself looked on with smug satisfaction:

“If we weren’t meant to question Yggdrasil, then why did She give us the ability to do so?”

That quelled her anger. She remembered feeling quite the same way as the priests did when she first heard the words spoken, but not enough that she felt the need to cry heresy. Because it did make her question things. _Must there be such rigid forms of worship? Does such a doctrine make it so that people who don’t pray and proclaim their servitude to Yggdrasil will never fly back into Her bosom after death? Shouldn’t She love everyone? She should, and She should have brought my sister back to me_ , Serena thought to herself, not caring if the heavens decided then and there to curse her with a forked tongue and serpentine eyes as punishment. Yggdrasil hears everything, even the unspoken. _Then hear this_ , Serena thought. _I defy You today! We defy You today! We have found a way to take Your holy power and twist it to bring fairness back into this world. You did us wrong when You robbed us of fairness. You did me wrong. Now watch as I mock You, as You mocked me when You grew our leaves back and not Veronica’s!_

Serena stood up to shed her nightshirt, and made a beeline to the bathroom, grabbing her toothbrush and lifting the lid of the small pot near the faucet to scoop a dollop of fragrant peppermint paste inside. She yanked the stopper above the faucet, hard enough to ignite the inside of the pipes and heat the water to her liking. Brushing hard enough to draw blood from her gums, she finished and turned to enter the shower, pulling at it's own stopper with the same intensity. She would not be discouraged today, not after what she and the others had found. The light said to have the power to disrupt time and bring back the fallen. The gear-shaped key in Eyll’s possession that would unlock the secrets of time itself, and put a crack in Yggdrasil’s seemingly impenetrable omnipresence.

 _I corrupt You_ , Serena thought, not realizing that the magical heat from her body began evaporating the water, as it clouded around her in an menacing silver fog. _I spit in Your face_.

* * *

Sylvando’s perfume filled her nose as she and the group made their way to the mysterious tower, surrounded by bountiful spring foliage that swayed in the breeze, along with the honey vanilla scent that radiated from his glossy hair and muscular neck. She took a large swig of cool water from the skin on her belt, feeling it quell the heat in her face. Serena had no interest in men, of that much was certain, but there were things only sisters knew between each other, things further strengthened by the mystical bond twins share, things that Veronica would never miss an opportunity to joke about just to get a rise out of Serena as they braided each other’s hair before bed.

“You _do_ know his grapes grow on the other side of the vineyard, right?”

“Oh, hush up!” Serena would reply. “Must you be so crass all the time? And did you just make that up?”

Veronica giggled, the mischievousness in her face magnified by her childlike appearance.

“I’m just saying, you have no chance.”

“I’m not interested in him at all, you fool!” It was true, but there was no denying the spell Sylvando could cast on people. Literally. His beauty and charisma were so powerful that Serena had seen him harness them as magical spells in battle, glittery pink energy swirling from his fingertips in the form of a head-spinning tornado or a blast of beguiling light. Sweaty palms aside, Serena began to walk closer to Jade, the one other girl she could confide in, and the one person who truly made her heart somersault. Jade, with her keen combat sensibilities, could detect the faintest movements from a foe before their move could fully be carried out, and so Serena’s presence closing in on her from behind came to no surprise. She caught Jade’s eye, the kindness in the right shining just as sweetly in the scarred one on the left, a ghostly veined orb that sat ineffectively in it’s socket. She made room for Serena to walk beside her, and Serena instantly felt her tumultuousness settle. She pondered stealing her hand into Jade’s, but quickly set it aside lest it make her uncomfortable.

“What’re you lookin’ at, laddie?” Rab asked, watching Eyll trace the ground with his eyes as if following a path visible only to him.

“The tockles,” he signed.

“Ah, right. The ‘tockles’,” Rab replied with a smile in his voice.

“With everything we’ve been through, you don’t believe I’m really seeing something?” Eyll signed with a smile of his own.

“I believe you,” Jade chimed in. “What do they look like?”

“Funny little creatures,” Eyll replied. “Little blobs with long arms and tiny dark eyes. You can see through them a little. Like ghosts.”

“And are they leading you?”

“I think so! There’s tons!”

“Ooh, an infestation.” Sylvando comically curled in on himself. “Serena, cast Kasizzle.”

The group laughed.

“No! They’re nice!” Eyll signed. “I started noticing them back when we went to see about the Lantern.”

“A mysterious race of creatures following you all this time, invisible to the naked eye and conveniently drawn to the events of your destiny? And you didn’t think to tell us? I must say, Great Luminary, I expected much more of you.” There was lightness in Hendrik’s voice as he emphasized the scolding nature of his tone.

“Okay, _Dad_ …” Sylvando sighed dramatically, wrapping himself around one of Hendrik’s massive arms. “He probably didn’t say anything because he was afraid we’d make fun of him.”

“Of which you would be the sole culprit. You never miss a chance to tell a joke. I would not have ridiculed you, Eyll.”

“Because you have the sense of humour of a pebble.” Sylvando punctuated himself by tapping the tip of Hendrik’s nose.

“That is correct,” Hendrik said with an affirming nod, eliciting more laughter from everyone.

Out of the corner of Serena’s eye, she glimpsed a sort of catching of the light, a curve in the air near the ground that slightly warped the grasses. She managed to work out a breath of blue before the force moved away. _Maybe it's the light inside,_ she wondered. _It controls all of space and time. All magical forces exert themselves in one way or another._ She looked up, and as if to enforce the thought, the tower loomed over them with power and authority. It was visible from the Whale Way, but it was something else entirely up close. Serena wasn’t afraid, however. _I’ll topple this tower if I have to. I’ll steal that light and make it do my bidding. Whatever or whoever tries to stop me inside will not live to see the light of day._ She shuddered, her own anger frightening her, and took Jade’s hand after all. Much to her relief, Jade squeezed it, a loving expression on her face, as if to say “I know exactly what you’re feeling.” The rage, the injustice, the fates seeming to mock you as they forced you to swallow the unfairness, chortling with glee as you choked on its acid. Jade knew of such things all too well. Serena squeezed her hand back. _So many things I’d like to tell you. If I weren’t such a coward._

Eyll inserted the key, and the door immediately began brimming with energy. The larger gears embedded within the stone turned loudly, rubble and dust falling as the building brought itself back to life after eons. The door separated into three parts; two that opened horizontally, and one that wound down afterward like a drawbridge. Rab shielded his eyes with his forearm, while Erik hooded his with a cupped hand.

“You know what they say. The older the estate, the shinier the treasure.”

“Who says that?” Jade asked.

“Me.”

Once the light faded, the group found Erik’s observation wasn’t too far off. It revealed great golden structures and an almost glitter-like haze in the air, of which Serena identified as endless outpourings of sand from the highest levels of the tower. Winding staircases and floating gear-shaped platforms stood above them like trees and clouds, and sunlight shone through the windows as if to make the cathedral-like majesty of the interior glow brighter. Serena took a breath. The building certainly smelled old, like an aged library. _Trivial_ , she remarked in her mind. _I will let nothing distract me. Beauty is oft the mask of cruelty._

* * *

“I could definitely use an ale after this.” Erik pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly having had enough of the gear platforms.

“You just said you were dizzy,” Sylvando replied.

“Yeah, but I’ll be safely on the ground in a bar, at least.”

“Hark!” Hendrik whispered urgently. The group immediately looked in his direction, and gasped. Even Serena was taken aback. She recalled Eyll’s description of the tockles, because what she saw before her could be naught but a mystical ghost of some kind. It stretched several feet above them, it's body like a warped lantern under a white sheet with long, tube-like arms, clearly unbothered by the ornate bracers around the wrists. A brilliant green jewel shone from the center of it's chest, it's round, black eyes remained unblinking, and between them was a slit of some kind that reminded Serena of a beak. The being swayed in an intangible breeze, appearing to look deep into their souls. It felt like it, at least.

“...Come…”

Erik jumped when he heard it, a disembodied, vaguely feminine voice that seemed to echo all around them despite the figure being several feet down the platform. The group obeyed, while Eyll turned to Rab excitedly.

“That’s what the tockles look like! They’re just a lot smaller. And fatter.”

Rab guffawed, and Erik shoved him playfully, as if to remind him he was in the presence of who might be the lord of all tockles.

“...This...is the tower of lost time…”

 _We’ve gathered as much_ , Serena thought sardonically.

“...I am the Timekeeper...The flow of time...Of destiny...I watch over them…”

“But...what _are_ you, exactly?” Erik asked, as benignly as he could.

“...I am what I am...and that is all that I am…”

Serena took a breath. If this Timekeeper was to be as cryptic and sluggish in their dialect as she expected, it was best to get a move on. Setting her feelings aside, she respectfully clasped her hands and stepped forward.

“I hope you don’t mind us intruding, but we heard that there’s a rather special light here in the tower that can...well, that can bring people back. We’ve lost someone...very special, and we were wondering if you could bring them back to us.”

The Timekeeper met her gaze before gesturing to the glittering globe behind them.

“...You speak of time’s sphere…If you were to harness its power, then that which you seek might be attained…”

Serena blinked, a twinge of hope sparking in her chest. It did not feel as sweet as she had hoped, almost like she had peeled off an itchy scab.

“...But the path you propose to follow is not one to be trodden lightly…”

Her heart sank. Of course there was a catch.

“...Only death...can pay for life. Only in darkness...can light shine…”

“What does that mean? Do we have to... _sacrifice_ someone?” Sylvando asked in fear.

“...An offering of equal bearing must be presented...As one leaf falls from Yggdrasil...another blooms in its place...something must be taken...in order to give…”

“‘Blooms in it's place’? How crass can you be?!”

Serena’s sudden outburst took the group aback.

“Honey--” Sylvando started.

“No! I refuse to stay silent. I have stayed silent for so long, I can’t--” Serena’s voice began to break, but she swallowed hard. _Do NOT show weakness. Not now. Not here._

“How _dare_ you?! People can’t just be replaced. Am I just supposed to believe thousands upon thousands of innocents were meant to die on that day? Just because it was fated or destined? That their fate was an unjust death?! A bloody, uncaring erasure from this world while those who killed them were granted grander departures?!”

She stomped up to the Timekeeper, staring straight up into it's hollow eyes.

“ _She_ can _never_ be replaced.”

The Timekeeper did not look perturbed. They seemed to be a fundamentally expressionless creature, however, so Serena could not be sure that emotion completely evaded them. Still, she waited for an answer.

“...This is true…”

Serena blinked. An affirmation?

“...Loved ones...cannot be replaced...it is for this reason...that humans have hearts...that love is a force, and not a mere feeling…”

She felt her friends walk up behind her, and Serena immediately unclenched her fists as her heartbeat slowed.

“...Loved ones...cannot be replaced...but...they can be...recovered…”

“How?” Hendrik asked firmly. Satisfaction thrummed in Serena’s gut. If Hendrik couldn’t wring out an answer, no one could.

“...Equilibrium…”

Serena cleared her mind once again, pondering the Timekeeper’s words. _They never said a human sacrifice had to be made. Only that something of equal value must be taken. An equivalency. A…_

“T-that’s it!”

“What is it?” Hendrik asked.

“The foundation upon which all magic is based; alchemy! Giving up a life isn’t necessary if we have something powerful enough to equate to a life. When we use magic spells, we feel tired afterward, because we’re exchanging our effort. We...we can exchange the element of death for the element of life, but we can only do so with another element of death! Life and death are just forms of energy! And…”

Serena turned to Eyll, his eyes wide and eager to help.

“We just happen to have those very things.”

Eyll paused for a moment, before gasping and nodding. He reached behind him to unsheathe the Sword of Shadows, and to his side to present the Sword of Light.

“Timekeeper, these two swords are embodiments of light and darkness, used respectively by Mordegon and the Luminary himself. If we offer these things, will the energy be able to bring Veronica back?”

Sylvando gasped. “Serena, you’re so smart! That has to work, right?”

The pause before the Timekeeper spoke seemed like an eternity.

“...It shall work…”

The group cheered. Sylvando hugged Hendrik, while Rab let out a jubilant laugh, and Erik gave Eyll a high five. Still, Serena held her breath, waiting for the catch.

“...An alchemical ritual will take place...It will be much more successful...now that you are in close proximity to the memory of all things…”

Serena turned to Eyll. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“It's just a sword. It means nothing to me,” Eyll replied. “Mordegon is gone. It served it's purpose. Well, almost.”

“That sword has our spirits in it. Our effort. Our sweat and blood,” Jade added. “Not to discredit you, Eyll, but I only speak for how valuable it will be to offer up.”

The Timekeeper nodded.

“...The swords...please…”

Eyll extended them, blades down, but once his fingers uncurled from the hilts, they floated up into the Timekeeper’s arms. The figure glided to the side of the time sphere, allowing the blades to levitate slightly above, and almost immediately, the runes on the platform began to glow, appearing to curl around the party’s feet.

“I ask...for your prayers…”

Serena felt rooted to the spot, still looking up into the Timekeeper’s vacant eyes as the ghostly figure took on a different form. Not physically, no, but Serena felt in the pit of her soul what had evaded her since that awful day. Completely arrested by her feelings, she felt tears pricking at her eyes, and her chest began to flutter like a sheet in the breeze. Was this really happening? It couldn’t be. Soon she’d wake up alone in the dark again, back at her house in Arboria having to live with the empty space Veronica left behind for the rest of her life, a sand pit of grief and misery and regret--

“Serena.”

She blinked, looking in the direction of the voice. Jade stood beside her, the gentleness in her face melting away every bit of apprehension and fear. She noticed that there were tears in Jade’s eyes too. How lovely, how powerful it was that she felt so deeply for Veronica, and for her. Her hand found its way back into Jade’s, and she found she could breathe again. They began to kneel.

“...You...friend of the Luminary…”

Serena felt the voice closest to her, and acknowledged the Timekeeper.

“...Your loved one’s last breath...lives in you…”

 _Her flame. Her spark._ Her tears finally spilled over.

“...You will be most instrumental...to the ritual…”

Serena felt the flames tingle in her palms, felt the icy-cold wind blow around her shoulders like a cloak, felt the blooming bright light behind her eyes. Take it all back, she told Veronica. Your light! Your life! You helped me keep going so that I could be here! Take it! Take all that I am!

The rest of the party knelt, clasping their hands close to their chests and shutting their eyes in deep concentration. Eyll, the one she guided. Erik, the one she rubbed elbows with. Sylvando, the one she smiled with. Jade, the one she admired. Rab, the one she studied with. And Hendrik, the one who regretted not knowing her.

_You are loved, my sister! My other half!_

Serena did not feel herself begin to rise into the air. She did not feel the golden light pouring forth from her body. She did not see the runes on the ground sparking and flashing. She did not hear the sands of time thundering as they flowed faster and harder than they have in thousands of years.

_...ronica!! Veronica!! Veronica!! Vero…_

Eyll? How could she hear him?

The Timekeeper watched blankly as the two swords floated on either side of the time sphere, ribbons of energy seeming to absorb every vestige of their essence, while the girl’s body lay prone in the middle of the air, enclosed in a magical pink bubble, shielded from the way the tower roared and ignited with power. The swords themselves began to crumble, the spiked asymmetrical one succumbing to the surrounding purple vortex and the silver-gold one appearing to melt in the white-hot halo of light that cradled it.

“The Luminary...not a person...but a force...a people…”

The party did not hear.

Serena threw back her head and gasped for air, as if she’d been underwater. Her eyes were wide open, but she could not see. A vast ocean of whiteness stretched before her the way the blue of the sea became one with the horizon. The afterimage of a person appeared behind her eyelids once she was able to close them.

_(I see you. I see you, sister)_

The six pillars of light generated from the bodies of the party began to fade, as the fruits of their labor manifested before them. The last bits of the swords flashed for a moment, and disappeared.

Serena floated back down onto her feet, and opened her eyes.

Veronica stood before them, restored to her full height. Standing straight up, her head was bowed into her chest, her eyes closed, the spitting image of Serena. Veronica mirrored her height, her dark skin, her scattered freckles across the bridge of her nose and the apples of her cheeks, her tightly curled hair, though where Serena's own was wound against the curvature of her head in short cornrows, Veronica's ghosted around her head and shoulders, a soft cloud of deep copper and bronze. She wore what appeared to be a white sleeveless nightshirt, long enough to reach her ankles, contrasted against the dirt that appeared to cloud up over her toes and the soles of her feet.

“...It’s her,” Hendrik breathed, completely dumbfounded.

“...Veronica?” Serena whispered, stepping forward tentatively, as if the figure before her were a mere shadow that would dissipate with the faintest stirring of the air.

Her eyes remained closed for a few moments more, and the party gasped quietly once she raised her head. The bridge of her nose crinkled as she opened her eyes, blinking blearily.

“Veronica!” Serena breathed, gingerly extending a hand to touch her cheek. She stepped close enough to feel Veronica’s first breath on her face. Her first breath as a reborn woman. Is she the first?

Veronica blinked herself into clarity, a knowing, almost expectant look on her face. Her eyes darted left to right, as if she were scanning the environment. Fear twisted in Serena’s gut. What if this was not her sister? Not the sister who joked with her, who poked fun at her, who feared no man or beast, but a new figure in her place? A new figure whose holiness and knowledge had cleansed her of her former self? A painful lump formed in Serena’s throat. _Please don’t let it be. Please._

“...Serena.”

She acknowledged her, still frozen in fear.

“...Seen a ghost?”

Serena swallowed, cupping Veronica’s face. She knew how her eyes bulged; grotesquely wide, almost in disbelief, in shock. Her heart felt arrested by ice. Ice that her chest immediately began to fight back against as it racked with her sobs. She collapsed to her knees, Veronica in tow. Veronica wrapped her arms around her younger sister, a peaceful expression of gratitude washing over her face.

Eyll stumbled forward, swallowing hard to compose himself even though he could not speak. Jade held her hand against her chest, struggling to contain her tears. Erik could only blink, mouth half-agape at the feat they had pulled off. Rab sighed contently, but with the weight of a man who had known tragedy after tragedy, and appreciated every bit of lightness he could get. Sylvando’s hands were steepled over his mouth as tears freely and silently flowed from his large eyes, and Hendrik could only stand steely and tall, fists clenched and his expression blank as he tried to process the miracle.

“...You.”

“...M-Me?” Hendrik stuttered, taken aback by Veronica’s sudden contemptuous growl.

“You’d better have a good reason for being here,” she spat. The group was suddenly shaken from their awe, and soft giggles began to break out amongst them.

“V-Veronica, it's alright. He’s a good man. I know we weren’t on the greatest of terms the last time we met, but it wasn’t his fault. He--”

“I know, I know. I remember. I just wanted to scare him a little. I only have a few more moments to be a vengeful ghost, after all. Then I’ll just go back to being a boring girl,” she remarked with a crinkle of her nose.

Hysterical laughs began to mingle with Serena’s sobs as she continued to cup Veronica’s face, watching as she began to react to the joyousness around her while placing her own hands over Serena’s.

“...The ritual...is complete...And the swords are no more…”

“Ah, to Hel with the swords. As long as I’m back, since it's just not feasible to live without me.”

“I dunno, I could have used a few more days of silence,” Erik quipped, wiping his eyes.

"No one asked, mouthy git.” Veronica retorted with a wink.

“I’m not quite used to you being so tall, Ronnie!” Sylvando piped up tearfully. “Now we can pub crawl without anyone trying to arrest us!”

“Save for me,” Hendrik muttered as he sidled up to Sylvando’s side, eyebrows raised in an expression of warning. Sylvando merely rolled his eyes as he nuzzled the taller man’s shoulder.

“How do you feel?” Serena asked.

“...Sleepy. Like I’ve taken a midday nap.” Veronica’s slow blinks piqued something in Serena, as well as her distracted looks here and there. She didn’t blame Veronica for being bewildered, and somewhat not all there. She’d just _returned_ from Valhalla. _Who knows what she saw? Who knows what she **knows**?_

A tiny twist of a growl sounded out from her belly, amplified by the tower’s echo.

"...And hungry."

“I don’t blame you! We’ve got a new mode of transportation now, so hot stew and nice dark beer are one call away!”

“Call to who?”

“Long story,” Eyll signed. “We made another magical friend.”

“Well, you’ll have to fill me in once we get there. I could eat a horse.” Veronica comically punctuated herself with a stretch and a yawn.

“Miss Veronica,” Hendrik rumbled, stepping forward and kneeling before her. “I did not know you before...before Yggdrasil fell. All you knew of me was that I’d persecuted you across the land seemingly for no reason. I allowed myself to be swayed by Mordegon. He had disguised himself as the king. He lied...for so many years, I...I did not know the king was not who he seemed, but that is no excuse. I put your lives in danger so many times, and if you had not reached the Heart before I, I would have handed you over to the Dark Lord without knowing it. I--”

“Save it.” Veronica interrupted, her palm in the air. “As the holy reborn incarnation of Serenica herself, I am inclined to forgive you of all trespasses. And besides, you said yourself the Dark Lord pulled the wool over your eyes. The darkness takes on the form of that which we find the most comfort in.”

“Wow. So profound.”

“I don’t hear you, Erik. A little gnat buzzing around my illustrious, holy ears.”

"...The girl...speaks true…"

Everyone's gazes promptly switched to the Timekeeper, whom they almost forgot was in the room.

"...Now...the true journey begins…"

"True journey? I'm afraid I don't understand," Rab responded.

"...Erdwin's Lantern...has been broken...The Luminary...His allies...their mission forever incomplete...until now…"

Eyll blinked in disbelief. Wasn't his responsibility to banish the Dark Lord? How was it that the responsibilities of Erdwin and his companions now rested on his shoulders?

"The Age of Heroes...resumes...Calasmos...lives…"

"Calasmos...Calasmos!" Rab cried suddenly. "The runes on the Lantern! It wasnae a star, was it? It was...it was a cage! A great barrier to keep something inside!"

Serena glanced over at Veronica, who didn't seem perturbed by the news at all. In fact, she stood straight and tall, with an attentive, dutiful expression on her face.

“Find...the Seer...Calasmos lives...here...among us…’

Veronica’s gaze fixed down to the base of the Timekeepers body, her eyebrows furrowing as if she’d spotted an insect.

“Mm,” She grunted.

“Forgive me, Timekeeper, but can’t you tell us? Since we’re here already?” Jade inquired. “Can’t you look into the time sphere?”

“The time sphere isn’t a crystal ball, exactly,” Veronica explained, turning to her. “The Timekeeper is only entrusted with guarding it, not interpreting it. Kind of like if the ocean was covered in glass. We wouldn’t be able to influence the lives of the fish, then.”

“I see.”

“Which means we’ve got to leave, right? To find the Seer,” Erik said.

“...Work together...with the Luminary...Your efforts will be greatly simplified...now that his counterpart...has come.”

Serena opened her mouth to respond, but it was too late to ask the Timekeeper any further questions. Veronica primly extended her foot before her, raised her hand into the air, summoning a swirl of purple wind that carried the party back to the entrance of the tower, who were now blinking and muttering from the sudden surprise and change of scenery.

“Veronica? What did the Timekeeper mean?” Serena asked tentatively. But again Veronica’s attention was diverted elsewhere. She stared down into an otherwise ordinary looking patch of grass, venom in her eyes. She was shortly joined by Eyll, who clenched his fists with the same determination.  
“What is it? What do you guys see?”

Sylvando’s question hung in the air, while Veronica and Eyll stared down what could only be an invisible menace. Serena racked her brain for answers, concluding only that what they were seeing was a tockle, since it was the most recent creature whose existence reflected the definition. But hadn’t Eyll described them as benign? And how could Veronica see them in the first place?

“It’s gone,” Eyll signed finally. “Good thing you cast Evac when you did.”

“Hello? Am I just falling on deaf ears? What happened just now?” Sylvando asked again, properly reflecting the rest of the party’s frustration at the cryptic answers they were given.

“Calasmos. It was here.”

“What?!” Hendrik exclaimed.

“Calasmos...is a tockle?”

“What makes you think that, Serena?” Veronica turned expectantly towards her, reflecting the demeanor of an expectant and proud teacher.

“Only Eyll can see tockles. He told us before we found the tower. That’s the only creature we’ve learned of thus far that can evade sight completely. Save for you two, of course.”

“How is this possible? I conclude that it makes sense for the Luminary to see forces we have yet to fully comprehend, as well as that which is drawn to them. Is this something that comes with knowledge of life after death?” Hendrik asked.

“You’re on the money, guys,” Veronica said with a wink. “Come, sit with me.”

The group followed her to a nearby tree, partially surrounded by boulders of different sizes, big enough to sit on, while she stood against the trunk, gazing up at the buds and inedible fruit that decorated it's foliage. Serena felt her heart sink, for Veronica’s expression was that of someone who had been away long enough to forget about such simple pleasures. She finally sat down on the grass, legs crossed.

“I guess I have some explaining to do,” she said with a smile. Serena found her exceptionally beautiful in the moment, the warm breeze caressing her loose hair, the sunlight glimmering through the tree’s leaves dancing over her freckles, and in her eyes as she looked back up in the direction of Yggdrasil.

“...I did die that day. It's...strange to have it be an experience you’ve already lived through, like losing your first tooth or something. Thankfully, I died from exertion, and not getting hit over the head with something. I could live without lumps on my head.”

The party laughed softly, their sentimentality and fear of realms unknown getting the better of them. Serena felt her throat close up once again at the thought of life leaving her sister’s body in either manner.

“I guess...what it's like to die is like...you feel very tired and you begin to slip into the best sleep of your life. Like after you’ve smoked some sleeping hibiscus, but times ten.”

“You’re supposed to smoke it?” Hendrik asked.

Erik scoffed. “Veronica could smoke a shoe and find some way to enjoy it.”

“You know I don’t smoke for recreational purposes, idiot. If I can look like a dragon while taking herbal supplements, then I will.”

“Back to the point of her tale, eh?” Rab asked, patiently bringing the party back to attention.

“Right, right, sorry. But yeah, I guess it's like being underwater, too? In the sense that you’re floating and you can’t really see or hear anything for a while. But then I saw Her.”

“Her?” Eyll signed, scooting closer to Veronica on the seat of his pants.

Veronica paused. “The Yggdragon.”

“ _Yggdragon?!_ ” the party exclaimed almost in unison.

“Well, a dragon is probably the form She took for me. Like how the Seer came to you in different forms, Erik. She was big! Real big, with gold and white scales and big yellow eyes like two suns. She was even bigger than Yggdrasil is now, but we still managed to walk together. Where we walked, I don’t know. It looked a lot like the First Forest to me. I guess it was Valhalla from how She sees it.”

Serena glanced to Veronica’s dirty feet and smiled gently. If the Mother of all things was a tree, then it would only make sense for Valhalla to be an endless garden.

“She told me about the Age of Heroes. About Erdwin and his companions, and one companion in particular. Morcant.”

“I’ve heard that name before,” Eyll signed. “The High Lama at Angri-La told me that he and Erdwin went there to train together. They were supposed to be really close friends.”

“‘Supposed’ is the key word. Morcant was meant for something a lot greater than just being an ordinary old mage. You see...the Luminary was never meant to act alone, and I don’t just mean without a group of friends.”

Veronica paused again to look at her own. Jade, seated on one of the boulders, raised a hand through her short, spiky hair to idly scratch her scalp. Sylvando and Hendrik were seated close together, close enough to look conjoined, the shorter man still wrapped around one of Hendrik’s arms, while he himself rested his head on Sylvando’s. Erik also sat cross-legged on one of the boulders, gazing attentively at Veronica while picking at his cuticles. Rab was seated close to the boulder Jade sat on, appearing to be taking notes in his head, while Eyll was close enough to her left that Veronica could reach his green boots if she extended one of her legs. Finally, Serena was seated to her right in her usual princess-style, looking at her as if she still couldn’t quite believe she was here in the flesh. How desperately she missed her. Veronica wanted nothing more than to wrap up her history lesson and go back home for dinner with her parents and a night of proper rest, lulled to sleep by Serena’s soft breathing on the other side of the room. Then their real mission could begin.

“The history books and the tomes don’t mention it because of how warped religion has become over the ages, but...a sort of anti-luminary was always meant to accompany and assist the real one. Not that this one wasn’t legitimate, it's just that...no one would have believed in a shadow luminary, since the darkness is so taboo.”

“...What d’ye mean ‘a shadow luminary’?” Rab asked, befuddled by the contradiction.

“The destined counterpart to the Luminary. The one who walks in shadow and spirit as they walk in light and life. This is what Morcant was meant to be, and in order to achieve this, he had to die first. But he was a coward. And selfish. When Erdwin and his party fought Calasmos, they were terribly outmatched because Erdwin’s power wasn’t paired with Morcant. He was too afraid of death. So he allowed himself to be swayed by Calasmos’s infinity, his omnipresence, and gave in to his malice. Morcant hated Erdwin because his destiny made it so that he was meant to die. He was also too stupid to understand that he’d have been brought back. This is how--”

“--He became Mordegon,” Hendrik finished. “I see.”

“What was Mordegon’s one desire above all else?” Veronica continued. “To become immortal. To become the master of all things, of life and death so that he didn’t have to worry about any threats to his existence. He basically gave Calasmos what it wanted, but eventually, he would turn on it…”

“How’s that? Wait…” Rab pondered. “Hold on. If I’m thinkin’ about this correctly, Erdwin’s Lantern was a last-ditch effort to contain Calasmos, because Morcant refused to work together with Erdwin. He gave up every last bit of his existence to keep Calasmos away from us, but the darkness Mordegon wrought on the land began to overrule it, since he was just meant to be a servant to the darkness and nothing more, so the star began to fall…”

“Well, almost. The Lantern was just named after Erdwin. It was really created by Serenica and the Watchers in his memory. After Mordegon took over, he saw it beginning to descend. Calasmos was angry, and felt threatened by Mordegon’s greed, but Mordegon felt threatened too. He flew out and shattered the Lantern, thinking the destruction would flow inward. But he forgot about one thing. Stars explode. Calasmos’s energy was released. We didn’t--Well, I mean you didn’t see it because Calasmos is an astral body. It can appear here temporarily but only fully takes form in space.”

“So, let's just backtrack a little bit here,” Erik piped in. “What does the ‘shadow luminary’ have to do with all of this?”

“Well, how did you bring me back? You used an alchemical ritual, an invocation of magic in it's most basic form. Darkness is just as much of a natural element as light, but ever since Morcant’s betrayal, it went down in the history books as the root of all evil. The historians conveniently didn’t mention how evil is a choice, and not an inevitability. All magicians across the land have studied and at least know of basic darkness spells. You, Rab, you employ them, don’t you?”

“Aye, I do. This is makin’ a lot of sense. And if I’m not too out of line, I’d assume you are this counterpart to the Luminary?”

Veronica nodded. “That's what the Yggdragon told me, at least. It's why I hung around after dying. I wasn't taken back into Her heart like everyone else.”

“Then that’s how I gained your powers. And how your afterimage stayed behind for so long until we found your staff. Your last breath,” Serena said wistfully.

“Honestly, it didn’t occur to me that it would work! I just wished for it really hard.”

“Well, that’s why mages are buried with their staves in place of headstones, lass. A mage’s magic crystal is as much a part of them as their blood and bones. Maybe that's why Morcant wanted to corrupt the Sword of Light. He felt jilted by destiny, as if his life wasn't his own anymore."

"But they were both chosen at the same time! Honestly, both Luminaries of each eon should be required to take a test. We don't have time for stupidity and pigheadedness."

"I would also chalk it up to bad education. At least for you and Eyll," Jade included. "After all, how were you supposed to know death was a sacred rite for you?"

"I've always said this. The priests in Arboria are all backwards old men who love to resist change. Mention one idea that doesn't perfectly align to scripture and you're a blasphemer!"

"Oh, we have some stories to tell all of you where Veronica's blasphemy is concerned," Serena said with a giggle.

"Go ahead. I have nothing to hide. Hell, I'm practically being rewarded for being a heretic!" Veronica replied. "Thanks, Yggdragon!" she called out between her cupped hands.

"Do you feel any different? Power-wise, I mean," Eyll asked.

"...I do. Now that I'm more awake, my 'midday nap' feels more like a good night's sleep. I guess I feel...ready. Can I have my staff back, please?"

Veronica gestured to Serena, who promptly reached behind her back to loosen it from her luggage. She paused before taking it, wondering what would happen now that it's owner had access to magical knowledge and power far beyond what she used to possess. She also wondered if it would hurt Serena to have her magic taken back. Veronica gulped. There was no point in stalling with worries and questions when she could just rip off the bandage. And so she did.

The two girls both gripped the staff, tighter in the sudden moment where tendrils of magic began sparking and smoking from the red crystal at it's head. Veronica felt waves of heat shoot through her, followed by the needling of ice and the bursting of light, all topped off with the anti-gravity weightlessness of darkness. She crept her fingers closer up to Serena's, smiling when she wordlessly understood the desire to entwine them. Once the magical tornado cleared, Serena noted that she felt lighter, as if she’d been freed of a burden, while Veronica looked even more mystical than before, her eyes closed as she accepted her power back into her body.

“Ronnie! Your hand!”

Veronica opened her eyes, looking at Sylvando in affirmation instead of where his attention was pulled. Indigo ribbons of magic helixed around the hand, fading into the air after taking the staff with the other. In her palm now was the marking of a crescent moon opened in the direction of her wrist, with two dots above and two larger dots below, like fallen tears. Serena had noticed that within the magic, she saw stars. Constellations. Glimpses of outer space. The land beyond. Eyll was the world, and Veronica was the hereafter.

“Do you understand what this means, Eyll?”

Eyll nodded sagely. “When the light and the dark come together, we see the middle ground. We see the sunset. We’re not exactly going to reverse time, but if we put our balance against Calasmos’s imbalance, then we might be able to…”

“The ritual,” Jade breathed. “A larger scale ritual this time. You’ll dominate Calasmos and reduce him to pure energy. With that scale of power, hundreds...no, thousands of lives will be brought back. All who died on the Darkest Day.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding,” Erik responded, eyes widening.

“If two items of concentrated light and dark were able to bring back one person, who knows what a whole astral body is capable of,” Sylvando pondered, scratching one of his sideburns. “Maybe…” He looked to Hendrik, with an expression of such tenderness that it made Serena’s heart ache, and made her wonder what it was like to love and be in love.

“...I understand what you mean. But I wouldn’t get too far ahead of myself. My people were taken before Eyll was even born. If they have passed on...then I’d rather not disturb them.”

Hendrik’s pessimism was almost too much for Serena to bear, especially after having wrestled with the agony of hope and despair battling brutally within her own soul. She stepped forward to place a hand on his forearm.

“It’s not wrong to have hope, Sir Hendrik. Even if it comes from a place of rage. Mordegon took your people, too. If we can reverse the darkness he wrought the day Yggdrasil fell, we stand a good chance of rectifying his destruction of Zwaardsrust, as well.”

Hendrik blinked slowly, letting Serena’s words settle into him warmly like tea before covering her hand with his own.

“You are a wise girl. I must learn to abide by this in times of uncertainty.” He looked back into Sylvando’s eyes, appearing to embrace him with his own.

“I must learn to look forward to happiness, to welcome it rather than cut it to the quick.”

* * *

  
Veronica sat under the tree near the town inn, twisting a clump of crushed slipweed into her pipe before lighting it with her finger. She smiled thoughtfully. The reunion with her parents was harder than she anticipated, seeming to dig deep inside her and carve out her heart for everyone to see, something the old Veronica would fight as hard as she could to mask with humor and cattiness, but she didn’t mind. Not anymore. No longer fearing death just made her fear of vulnerability comically insignificant. No longer would she deprive herself of love in any form, even if it meant getting egg on her face in the process. She decided that until they were resurrected, she would live her life to the fullest for those who were taken too soon.  
  
“Veronica? Aren’t you coming to bed?”

Despite Veronica’s heightened awareness, she still couldn’t anticipate Serena’s approach. She smiled, attributing it to her indefatigable softness.

“I will in a bit. But don’t you think I’ve had enough sleep for a while?”

“That’s not the least bit funny,” Serena retorted as she sat down beside her, laying her head on her tucked-in knees. Veronica took another puff, enjoying the unspoken communication of their silence. It stretched on for a time, peacefully.

“I saw you, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I died, I was walking through the First Forest, like I said. A really thick and thorny part. It confused me. I thought I had teleported myself too. But then I saw you in a clearing. All clean, all happy. Not tired. You turned and smiled at me, like you were telling me it was all gonna be okay. That’s how I knew I didn’t make it.”

Serena turned her head, fixing her gaze on the moon and trying to focus on anything that could hold back her tears.  
  
“That’s when I must have blessed you with my powers. When I saw you, I wasn’t sure if it was real or not, but the sight of you filled me with hope. I wanted you to have that hope too, so I wished and wished with all my might that you’d be protected, and then when I opened my eyes, I saw you play your harp, and everything went white.

Everything is about duality, Serena,” Veronica said, catching her sister’s eye. “Serenica was reborn as two people. The Luminary has always needed someone’s dark to help his light. The sun and the moon, they lift each other up every day to help the other do what they do best. Do you know why you saw the tockles today?"

"...I saw the tockles?"

"Yup. I felt your memories once you gave my powers back to me. You saw a little light warp. What you were actually seeing was a tockle, but since you're not a full luminary, you couldn't see them completely."

"Then...because we're twins, I'm able to feel a little bit of what you feel as a luminary."

"It's always been so between us!" Veronica chirped with a smile. "Even if we were entire countries apart, I'd always know the direction in which I'd start looking for you. Like an inner compass."

"And I've always been able to anticipate your feelings before you reveal them."

"The Timekeeper said it best; the Luminary isn't a person, but a people. The power of people united against cruelty and despair."

Serena agreed silently, thinking on her friends and the role they played in illuminating the world. Erik's belief in the goodness of people, regardless of rules or laws that proclaim otherwise; Jade's unconquerable strength and nobility, alongside Hendrik's like-minded staunch heroism; Sylvando's incorruptible optimism and reverence for the power of joy; and Eyll's innocence, his purity combined with the objective acceptance of his destiny and painful past, creating an aura about him that reflected a hero wise beyond his years. _We all believe in a better future, but we also believe in the future regardless. A bright tomorrow or a dark tomorrow. It matters not. What does matter is what we choose to do with it. Those who were taken on that day were robbed of their tomorrows, robbed of their chances to enter Valhalla. Please wait for us. We're on our way._

"What now?" Serena whispered rhetorically.

"We get some rest. We'll be back on the road soon," Veronica responded, excitement thrumming in her belly. Serena deserved a good night's sleep, but Veronica couldn't find it in her yet to need the cool comfort of pillows and blankets. Not when the dawn was coming, hot and bright and blessed.

* * *

The Timekeeper glided towards the sphere, its surface glinting and glittering with unknowable power.

"...The deed...is done..."

"INDEED," Eegoltap replied, stumbling every so slightly as he walked beside the Timekeeper, his aides standing close behind ready to catch him if his drowsiness prevailed.

"COMMOTION OVER SWORDS. SEEMS OF SMALL IMPORTANCE NOW."

The Timekeeper silently turned its head attentively to the elderly Watcher.

"YGGDRASIL HOUSED SWORD OF ERDWIN. SWORD WAS CORRUPTED BY LORD OF SHADOWS. LUMINARY FORCED TO MAKE NEW SWORD. INSTRUMENTAL IN DEFEATING DARK LORD. SO MUCH COMMOTION. AND NOW GONE."

"...Indeed..." the Timekeeper sighed. "...But...it is true to our history...futures are built...Prophecies...exist as reminders...of our obligations...Ultimately...it is up to the prophesized..."

"LUMINARY DID NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE PATH OF LUMINARY. COULD HAVE CHOSEN PATH OF DARKNESS. COULD HAVE CHOSEN APATHY. NO ONE BORN WITH TRUE DIRECTION OF HEART. ONE MUST BE RAISED. CARED FOR. DIFFERS MUCH. BUT NATURE INFLUENCES NURTURE. LUMINARY HAD HUMBLE UPBRINGING. SURROUNDED BY FAMILY. SURROUNDED BY LOVE. IS REFLECTED IN HIS HEROICS."

"...Seems paradoxical...prophecies can only exist...if they are made ages before..."

"PROPHECY LONG WORD. JUSTICE BETTER. HISTORY REPEATS. RHYMES. LIKE SONG AND DANCE. ONE MUST KNOW PROPER TIME TO JOIN. OR FEET WILL TANGLE. VOICES WILL CROAK. MAINTAIN HARMONY. BUT JUMP BACK IN WHEN DISORDER."

Eegoltap yawned.

"ELDER ALL RIGHT?" the mustachioed aide to his right asked.

"NOT BEEN AWAKE FOR SO LONG. IN MANY EONS. BUT I STAY AWAKE. MAKE MYSELF. MAKE MY OWN DESTINY." Eegoltap gave a small, raspy laugh.

"READY FOR PRAYER."

The two ancient beings stepped up to the sphere's platform, gliding over to either side and holding their palms out as if to warm them by its light. A thrum of holy magic tickled the aides' antennae as the Timekeeper and Eegoltap began to pray in unison, their invocation of hope resounding in a language long since forgotten by history.

 _"A prophecy endures and hardens all across the ages_ _  
Cradiling its influence through tomes and hallowed pages  
Avarice and rancor free the beasts from all their cages  
The acrid wind of enmity, accursed and contagious _

_Responsibility and justice set the gleaming stages_  
_Life and death united as malevolence rampages_  
_Take up arms and pierce the night, vivid and courageous_  
_Shine for us, Bold Luminary, and arise, Brave Umbrageous."_


End file.
